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Postcard from Turin, Italy: Letting the graveyard provide introductions

Carlo Tancredi Falletti (1782-1838), Marquis of Barolo, was mayor of Turin in 1827 when he determined the city needed an elegant new cemetery. At the time, Turin was the capital of the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia.

The Monumental Cemetery of Turin (Cimitero Monumentale di Torino) occupies almost 150 acres of land. And, once again, this taphophile is introducing you to a city via a visit to its residents of yore.

A woman after my own heart, Manuela Vetrano has written a book on this particular cemetery – Torino Silenziosa.

It was 2011 and I was walking through the most ancient part of the Cemetery of Turin, surrounded by magnificent works of art by important names in Italian history. I started wondering why there was no one else but me. Superstition? Fear? I thought it would be nice to let others know about this rich and important place. I started looking for books and documents about the Cemetery and I spent many hours inside it to observe and study tombs and monuments. I collected so much material that it allowed me to open my blog, lead guided tours, and write a book, too. The stories that struck me the most refer to almost unknown personalities.

“The Monumental Cemetery of Turin: Interview with Manuela Vetrano,” Emanuela Borgatta Dunnett, Wall Street Journal, December 1, 2018

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Postcard from Marfil, Guanajuato, Mexico: Wait, are you sure we are not in Italy?

The creamy rich black rice risotto above was one of the best risotti we had in Italy. Wait. We were not in Italy any longer. We were in Guanajuato.

But Peccato di Gola is so good, I dare plop a post about it right here in the middle of “postcards” from Italy. We went to Marfil on the edge of Guanajuato to visit the Casa Museo Gene Byron (more to come about it after delayed Italian posts are delivered). People rave about the food at the museum’s restaurant, but it was closed on a Monday – often an issue when traveling.

So we walked past the ancient dam to the other side of Marfil, not a major hike, to an at-first unappealing strip of restaurants right on the side of the roadway. But stepping inside the comfortably furnished Peccato di Gola quickly altered that first impression.

We were considering opting for pizza, but the owner/chef (who we think is from Rome) piped up that Monday was our lucky day. On Mondays the restaurant offers a 300-peso (about $15) fixed-price lunch. This is not your normal fixed-price offering; no, it is one inviting you to fully understand the restaurant’s name. For our 300-peso per person investment, we could order anything on the menu, except steaks, until we wanted nothing more. Peccato di Gola translates as the sin of gluttony. And we fully consented to commit it.

With a large selection on the menu, we sat back and let him pick our starters while we tried not to fill up on the freshly baked olive bread. The chef definitely had my attention when he bypassed the wood-fired stove to a smoldering grill and placed something over the coals for us. Oh my, grilled octopi. He followed that with fried zucchini blossoms filled with gorgonzola and topped with shrimp. And then a plate layered with rounds of salmon carpaccio and a board bearing caprese salad.

Did we stop there? No, not I said the glutton. We sampled lobster ravioli, again topped with shrimp. And perfectly cooked salmon. Then he brought out a dessert board for us.

I do promise, though, that these photos are from more than one meal. We sinned twice, and then went back one more time to try the pizza.

grilled octopus
fried zucchini blossoms stuffed with gorgonzola
vegetable pizza
salmon
roasted romaine salad
lobster ravioli topped with shrimp
salmon carpaccio
salmon
gnocchi with gorgonzola sauce
dessert trio

Although the pizza topped with vegetables popped out from the wood-burning oven looking perfect, it actually was our least favorite dish there. The crust had good texture but had the issue we generally find true in Mexico. Pizza crusts in Mexico often have too much of a white-flour taste compared to what we are accustomed. While not up to Italian standards, this still was the best pizza we found in Guanajuato.

But no matter what day you decide to head to Marfil – a short and inexpensive cab ride from downtown – let Peccato di Gola transport you to Italy. Aside from the pizza, everything we sampled on the menu comes highly recommended.

Oh, to have the opportunity to sin like that again.

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Postcard from Genoa, Italy: Vestiges from our visit

Although he sailed for the New World under the Spanish flag, Genoa claims Christopher Columbus (1451-1506) as among the famous born there.

Genoa’s narrow, rabbit warren-like tangle of streets and intimate plazas in the historic medieval center, purportedly the largest intact in Europe, mainly defy access to anything as wide as a modern-day automobile. Centuries-old buildings reflect layers of changing architectural tastes in their facades. Ethnic shops crowd into small spaces in the heart of the city, while contemporary fashion is found on arcaded boulevards outside the walls. Elegant palaces and financial houses from Renaissance and Baroque periods line streets and the wide-open Piazza de Ferrari just outside the medieval walls.

Genoa is a rough-and-tumble jumble, a beautiful unpolished diamond inviting those living in the New World to explore the Old. Well, inviting except by that one grouchy tagger who dropped the f-bomb on tourists.